Are you an entrepreneur?

Entrepreneurs are problem solvers. We find or even make creative solutions to life’s never ending challenges. Book Hook, a book exchange club, was my solution to help students solve their challenges of buying and selling textbooks efficiently. Here's how I applied the 3 P's of Branding:

1) Promise –“Save Money. Study Better.” was the slogan I wanted Book Hook to stand for. Because textbooks were so expensive, I believed that students should save money by buying and selling used textbooks between each other rather than from the bookstore. This way they could worry less about money and focus more on their studies.

2) Personality - If Book Hook was a person, I wanted students to know that she was trustworthy, reliable, and caring. She was someone who would listen to and understand their needs. She would then do her best to help solve those needs with integrity and respect. Most importantly, she would be personal because students hate superficiality.

3) Positioning - Book Hook had to be unique from all the other clubs and book exchange websites/services available. First, in order to recruit highly motivated, creative, and committed members, club membership had to be exclusive. Second, club activities and events had to adjust around students' academic life and class schedules. Last but most importantly, by providing an efficient book exchange service that used a real-time database and user-friendly website.

Discovering your branding strategy doesn't happen immediately. It is an ongoing process that takes months of thought, research, and personal development. However, I believe that with passion and a big vision to make a change, entrepreneurs can and will overcome any challenges we encounter. Are you an entrepreneur?

The Three P's of Branding

Branding is another important part of entrepreneurship and marketing. Whether it be branding yourself or your business, branding shapes your marketing strategies. Here is a brief overview of The 3 P's of Branding that I learned from Axle Davids, Founder and CEO of Distility Branding, during a talk organized by Refresh Events a few days ago.

1) Promise - This is the solution you are offering to life's challenges. It involves combining your passion towards solving an unsatisfied need in the marketplace. It is NOT about you.

2) Personality - This shows how you deliver on your promise and stay committed to it. Are you consistent?

3) Position - This is the X factor that makes you unique and remarkable compared to everyone else. You MUST stand out!

The 3P's are may seem quite basic to marketing... but that's exactly why they are fundamental. Branding may seem easy, but it is not as simple as switching ON a light switch... it's an ongoing process. I believe they act as a strategic compass to guide you into creating something amazing as you travel the rough and narrow road to success. In my next post, I will talk about my 3P's for Book Hook, a student book exchange club I created, and how we are starting a movement to change students' ideas about used textbooks.

What's all the Buzz about?

Ok I'm writing this blog post to test if my Blogger account has properly linked with Google Buzz and hopefully to Twitter! Let's see what happens! Blogger post test 1. Fire in the hole! Are you in the Buzz yet?

Networking for your future

There's a saying: "In life, it's not what you know...it's who you know that counts." That being said, I believe that in order to reach your goals in life, networking is one of the most important tools you can use to plan your future. As part of Social Media Week - Toronto, today I had the amazing opportunity of attending CaseCamp, a casual business talk "unconference" and networking event, to listen and learn from top business executives and leaders about their industry and social media. The were several speakers, buy my five favorite were:

- Peter Aceto, President of ING Bank Canada
- Noel Biderman, President of Ashley Madison
- Bryan Segal, VP of comScore
- Idan Cohen, Founder of Boxee.tv
- Alyson Walker, Senior Manager of CTV Olympics

Being a social media addict and entrepreneur, I absolutely loved each of their talks because of my constant craving for the latest social media trends and business industry news that I can add to my personal knowledge and experience. The key difference between these speakers and school was that everything they shared were all real and practical. In contrast, school is just too theoretical, conceptual and boooring. Now you know why I always had trouble paying attention in class.

So during the event, I also took the time to network with people. I exchanged business cards and information with two people (I prefer not to mention their names without their permission). The first was a nice gentleman who was the Community Manager at Techvibes.com and the second was a very friendly lady who was a social media marketing consultant and entrepreneur for Space Race, a digital strategy consultancy. It was really great to learn from their experiences and share ideas. After the event, I was able to introduce myself to Eli Singer, the Founder of Entrinsic.com, the social media communications agency that created CaseCamp. Networking is cool eh?